A panoramic-based walkthrough system using real photos

Recent advances in image-based rendering techniques allow us to have interactive panoramic viewing of real world environment using real photos. With panorama visualization tools like QuickTime VR or Realspace Viewer, we are able to have fast navigation in an image-based environment. However, the navigation control is restricted to panning, zooming and tilting of a single panoramic view. Smooth walkthrough between panoramic nodes is not yet supported. In this paper, we first describe how we apply the epipolar geometry between cylindrical projection manifolds to find point correspondences between real-world panoramic photos. A correspondence matching program is developed to allow users to identify correspondence interactively. The correspondence information is identified by defining patches on the panoramic image. Then, the system can generate a triangular mesh for the panorama based on the given patches. After that, we are able to provide free navigation between panoramic nodes by means of the triangle-based image warping technique.